Be it solo, as member of the drone duo NADJA or B/B/S (his trio with ANDREA BELFI and ERIK SKODVIN / SVARTE GREINER) or in various collaborations with artists like TIM HECKER or THISQUIETARMY: the Berlin-based Canadian is one of the most productive and versatile artists when it’s about postrock, drone or ambient and without doubt a true master on his instrument, the guitar. In recent years BAKER also starting exploring new grounds as a composer of contemporary / ensemble music – e.g. his composition „An Instance Of Rising“ was commissioned by SPÓŁDZIELNIA MUZYCZNA CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE and SACRUM PROFANUM FESTIVAL for their 2017 edition. “Invisible Cities” marks BAKER’s first collaboration with GARETH DAVIS whose eclectic oeuvre spans contemporary classical, free improvisation and orchestral music through to rock, noise and electronica. The bass clarinetist is a steady member of the critically acclaimed post-rock formation OISEAUX-TEMPÊTE and A-SUN AMISSA, interpreted compositions by ALVIN LUCIER with MACHINEFABRIEK, worked with BERNHARD LANG and PETER ABLINGER, performed with musicians like NY Downtown veteran Elliott Sharp, MERZBOW or ROBIN RIMBAUD (aka SCANNER) and realized multimedia work with artists including CHRISTIAN MARCLAY and PETER GREENAWAY.

Recorded in November 2016 at MUZIEKHUIS, Utrecht, the four tracks create a calm, even meditative atmosphere in their reduced manner that gives much room to the individual instruments / sounds, occasionally spiced up by field recordings that intensify the overall chamber jazz / ambient moods.

Formed early 2008 in Istanbul, KONSTRUKT have since been gaining high reputation and an ever-growing audience within European improvised music circles. Over the past decade, the Turkish free jazzers not only released a couple of superb albums under their own name – they also regularly invite significant musicians like PETER BRÖTZMANN, JOE MCPHEE, WILLIAM PARKER, AKIRA SAKATA, MARSHALL ALLEN, EVAN PARKER, THURSTON MOORE, MICHAEL ZERANG, ALFRED HARTH or ALEXANDER HAWKINS for recording sessions and/or concerts (a.o. at festivals like A L’ARME, .KONFRONTATIONEN NICKELS-DORF, KRAKOW JAZZ AUTUMN). Their latest work “A Philosophy Warping …” sees KON-STRUKT team up with the Japanese avant-garde / noise icon KEIJI HAINO – and besides all the elements you may well expect from such a musical meeting like KONSTRUKT’s “acerbic razor-edged sound” (MARK CORROTO, ALLABOUTJAZZ) and HAINO’s unmistakable voice / guitar explosions, there’s also some real surprises …

MICK HARRIS (SCORN, QUOIT, PAINKILLER) returns after several years of hiatus with ten tracks of blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms.

I’ve been asked to write a press piece for the dark lord MICK HARRIS.

Where does one even start? Especially for someone with decades of releases over various solo projects, collaborations and pseudonyms, whether it’s doing blast beats in the original NAPALM DEATH to crushing techno brutality as MONRELLA, or savage drum & bass as QUOIT. Then of course there’s the mighty SCORN and his numerous collaborations with fellow luminaries such as JOHN ZORN and BILL LASWELL (in PAINKILLER).

Rather than being tied to genres or scenes, MICK HARRIS is one of those producers who creates a whole sonic world uniquely of his own, in which varying tracks, styles and tempos take form, but yet in which everything sounds unmistakably characteristic of the creator. Needless to say his work has influenced legions of producers like SURGEON, REGIS, ONTAL, VATICAN SHADOW / PRURIENT, FAUSTEN, SHAPEDNOISE et al, and pretty much anyone in the world of powerfully dark, abrasive music you could name-drop. And yet after all this time, it is impressive that HARRIS still stands way above his successors and has never been surpassed in his own production/performance game.

After a hiatus of several years, he is back with a new album under the guise of FRET.

Working at a faster tempo than his SCORN material, the FRET project first surfaced years ago on the DOWNWARDS label, rooting it firmly in the dark, industrial and technoid world, and appeared more recently on Tresor (Kern mix by OBJEKT), maintaining the characteristic colossal bass-heaviness and textural depth.

And now a full album on KARLRECORDS, Berlin.

HARRIS fans will be delighted to know that despite the 130 bpm tempo, the newest FRET still resolutely avoids any straight four-on-the-floor kickdrums; every track lurches, stumbles, staggers and charges forth with beats in beautifully broken asymmetry.

We get 10 tracks of crushing, percussive destroyers, each itself a storm of precision chaos, with colossal low-end frequencies that’ll cause stampedes in the right circumstances. The classic HARRIS sound is there; searing waves of feedback distortion, intricate, interlocking rhythms and cold, abattoir atmospheres, especially track 6 “Stuck in the track at Salford Priors” which sounds like you’re being continuously suspended in the air from multiple explosions all around, each kickdrum throwing you up in the air, the next one going off before you can fall completely back to the ground.

The lazy-minded would probably lump it in with the term “techno”, but the disciplined brutality, blasting landmine bass and interlocking shrapnel rhythms are clearly HARRIS’ own trademark style, sitting somewhere between SCORN and QUOIT.

The tracks appear deceptively chaotic on the surface, yet each is meticulously and masterfully composed with great attention to layering and detail. MICK HARRIS fans rejoice, the dark lord still remains at the top of his game.

# 2 in the PERIKLAS series is an ambient masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty by the Italian sound artist GIULIO ALDINUCCI.

GIULIO ALDINUCCI is an Italian sound artist working in the fields of experimental electroacoustic music, field recording and ambient soundscape. Born 1981 in Siena, his catalogue comprises four solo albums on labels like DRONARIVM (CHIHEI HATAKEYAMA, AIDAN BAKER),TIME RELEASED SOUND or HOME NORMAL plus EPs and collaborative albums (a.o. with PLEQ). Furthermore , he wrote music for theatre, video art, documentaries and short movies and was awarded with an honourable mention at the 18th International Electroacoustic Composition Competition Música Viva 2017 for his composition “Mute Sirens”. Together with ATTILIO NOVELLINO, ALDINUCCI launched the project “Postcards From Italy” which consists of an album published by OAK EDITIONS, live events (the first one took place at Cafe OTO, London) and an installation by AIPS collective & GIANMARCO DEL RE.
“Borders And Ruins”, his first album for KARLRECORDS, is a reflection on the instability of borders – borders as an extreme attempt to discriminate and rationalize that turns into a source of chaos and cultural ruins on both sides – and their impact on the relationship between people and territory. It is also a sonic diary: a constantly mutating soundscape where electronic sounds and field recordings (taken during several travels around the continent) blend into an ambient masterpiece of sublime beauty and sacral majesty.

Curtains up for a new power trio: bass player MASSIMO PUPILLO (ZU, LANIAKEA), drummer ALEXANDRE BABEL (SUDDEN INFANT) and CASPAR BRÖTZMANN on guitar.

As the title “Live At The Candy Bomber Studios, Vol.1” indicates, this album is the first cut from an inspired recording meeting. Raw energy, full focus and three instrumentalists at the peak of their skills who blend noise rock, drone and improvisation into 2 relentless epic pieces. The line-up consists of MASSIMO PUPILLO, bass player in ZU, LANIAKEA and countless other constellations and drummer ALEXANDRE BABEL who is a prolific player in the experimental / contemporary field (artistic director of Swiss percussion group EKLEKTO, member of KAMMERENSEMBLE NEUE MUSIK BERLIN, soloist and has performed a.o. with OTOMO YOSHIHIDE and KEIJI HAINO) and a steady member of the noise band SUDDEN INFANT. And last but not least there’s CASPAR BRÖTZMANN on guitar who gained high reputation as one of the most radical guitarists around, admired by acclaimed artists like THURSTON MOORE („probably one of the best guitarists I’ve ever met!”) and STEPHEN O’MALLEY. A powerful unit, recorded live in the studio by INGO KRAUSS who had already worked with BRÖTZMANN on the CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER albums “Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore” and “Koksofen”.

On his solo debut under his civil name, JENS PAULY displays his advanced skills in creating sublime ambient pieces, rich in detail and yet free of any exuberance.

JENS PAULY spent his adolescence playing in wild style punk and grindcore bands before exploring other sounds and genres: GHOSTRIDER was his solo synth-project (with releases on DIGITALIS LTD., TRANQUILITY TAPES and HOBO CULT RECORDS), while SEX TEMPLE was a short-lived duo with PASCAL HECTOR from DATASHOCK. In more recent years, PAULY was a founding member of the atmospheric black metal band ULTHA (VEN-DETTA RECORDS). Now, a few months after leaving ULTHA, the first solo release under his civil name.
On “r/f”, the Cologne based musician indulges his passion for ambient and minimalistic sounds. It consists of five epic instrumentals, masterly crafted with a skilled hand for organic soundscapes and atmospheres that resonate deeply. All five tracks are characterized by a deliberate reduction on minimal means – with just a guitar – to give space to the chosen sounds. “r/f” stands for “remember / forget”, the topic of the album: memory, oblivion, the gap between these two and the construct of memory as such. A strongly recommended album if you’re into ambient, especially early TIM HECKER, OREN AMBARCHI or STARS OF THE LID.

zeitkratzer and its special guests SVETLANA SPAJIĆ (voice), DRAGANA TOMIĆ (voice) and OBRAD MILIĆ (voice, diple, gusle) present traditional Serbian songs from and about World War I.

Within its 20 years of existence, REINHOLD FRIEDL’s ensemble zeitkratzer has proved its interpretatory mastership on a wide range of fields such as contemporary / avant-garde composers, electronic artists, industrial underground – and, probably most surprising on this list, also in traditional music / folklore as documented on the two albums “Volksmusik” and “Neue Volksmusik” . For “Serbian War Songs”, a selection of traditional songs from and about World War I, the “modern composition supergroup” (THE WIRE) have invited some special guests: the renowned singers SVETLANA SPAJIĆ and DRAGANA TOMIĆ (who both worked a.o. with ROBERT WILSON) and the diple / gusle player OBRAD MILIĆ. REINHOLD FRIEDL and SVETLANA SPAJIĆ (probably the most acknowledged expert for traditional songs in Serbia) selected some traditional Serbian songs from and about World War I, and OBRAD MILIĆ contributes „Assassination In Sarajevo“, a song in the classic epic form he had learnt from his father Bogdan, a famous gusla player at the beginning of the 20th century. Commissioned by Berlin’s Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, the performance was recorded and mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer MARTIN WURMNEST and mastered by MIKE GRINSER at D&M.

zeitkratzer worked with ELLIOTT SHARP for the first time already in 1997 and have since then been releasing several cooperations, including 2 duo releases of zeitkratzer mastermind REINHOLD FRIEDL and ELLIOTT SHARP. Over the last 40 years the avant-garde musician has created an immense oeuvre: he has performed and recorded with a.o. JOHN ZORN, BILL LASWELL, ZEENA PARKINS, JOEY BARON, DAVID TORN and runs his own formation CARBON. SHARP also composed for the SOLDIER STRING QUARTET, the AMERICAN COMPOSER’S ORCHESTRA or the SYMPHONIC ORCHSTRA of HESSISCHER RUNDFUNK (the New Yorker actually studied with MORTON FELDMAN and ROWELL RUDD). “Oneirika”, named after the greek waking dream, is inspired by the CAGE-an tradition and, with its score making use of SHARP’s innovative method to filter and process his self-generated musical manuscripts via Photoshop, leaves a great interpretatory latitude to the performers. A perfect subject for an ensemble of the calibre of zeitkratzer who are able to translate from a frequency of light and image into sound and motion. It also fits perfectly with zeitkratzer’s sound philosophy: high-quality amplification of acoustic instruments! “Oneirika” was commissioned by Berlin`s Maerzmusik Festival and premiered in 2014 at the Berghain, Berlin. Recorded by MARTIN WURMNEST , mixed by RALF MEINZ, mastered & cut by MIKE GRINSER at D&M.

After their furious debut “Aquanaut”, Leipzig’s LAURENT DE SCHEPPER TRIO release a mature follow up that sees the genre-blending jazz / indie formation heading for new peaks.

4 years have been passing since the LAURENT DE SCHEPPER TRIO (who actually became a quartet in the meantime) unleashed their highly praised debut album “Aquanaut”: “great band” (De:Bug), “worth listening and important” (Wolf Kampmann / Eclipsed) or „stunning magnificence!“ (Subjectivisten) were some of the opinions on the Leipzig-based formation whose sound blends fluidly the progressive now-jazz of NILS PETTER MOLVAER, TALK TALK’s ethereal art-pop and the structural freedom of SONIC YOUTH. “Into Olymp” – the title as well as the artwork document an extended band trip to Greece in october 2015 – again turns out a corybantic stylistic balancing act, a brilliant symbiosis of jazz and indie, mature serenity and vital dynamics, sublime finesse and high energy. Complex arrangements, propelled by bass (ISABEL FISCHER) and drums (LARS OERTEL), are the backbone for the multi-faceted guitar play of new member RENE PALFFY and THOMAS BÄR’s effect-modified saxophone.
A truly monumental effort, recorded at Ballroom Studios / Dresden, produced by JOHANNES GERSTENGARBE and soundwise refined by REUBEN COHEN / LURSSEN MASTERING (CAT POWER, GEORGE HARRISON, IGGY POP, ELVIS COSTELLO, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) in Burbank, California. Vinyl cut by RASHAD BECKER at D&M, Berlin.

On her 3rd album Berlin’s GOLDEN DISKÓ SHIP enlargens her pop / experimental sound cosmos for a new component: BASS. In consequence, “Imaginary Boys” was mixed by SCHNEIDER TM and RASHAD BECKER took care of mastering and the vinyl cut.

“Imaginary Boys” sets a new landmark in the work of THERESA STROETGES alias GOLDEN DISKÓ SHIP. The album was conceived during her stay in Lisbon in the summer of 2015 where the multi-instrumentalist found plenty of inspiration in traditional and experimental music. These elements left their traces not only as field recordings but also led the classically trained musician to re-consider the use of her former main instrument viola which is more present than before. One dominant compositional element of “Imaginary Boys” is a deliberate use of time, influenced by the perception of electronic music and techno. While songs like the euphoric “Pacific Trash Vortex” or “Swarm Of Bees” come to the point without any deviation, tracks like “Sundrunk” and “Lifelike Showdown” take their time to develop tense atmospheres of psychedelic intensity. A second characteristic that is accentuated more than on her previous albums “Prehistoric Ghost Party” (Klangbad, 2012) and “Invisible Bonfire” (Spezialmaterial, 2014) is BASS as an aesthetic constant that connects the individual songs / tracks. This way GOLDEN DISKÓ SHIP’s sound cosmos, right from the beginning an open and broadly framed matter ignoring boundaries between pop and experimentation, gains a clearly audible additional depth. The choice of electronic artist SCHNEIDER TM for mixing and D&M’s studio wizard RASHAD BECKER for mastering / vinyl cut is not only a highly coherent and consequent decision but gives the seven tracks on “Imaginary Boys” the best possible finishing.

#DOUBLE BIRTHDAY RELEASE !! KARLRECORDS celebrates its 10th birthday, ZEITKRATZER even its 20th! And the party starts with the necessary re-interpretations of early compositions by electronic pioneers KRAFTWERK.

Founded in 1997 by REINHOLD FRIEDL, ZEITKRATZER have since been creating an impressive catalogue of recordings that embraces 20th century avant-garde composers (CAGE, STOCKHAUSEN, LUCIER) as well as electronic artists (CARSTEN NICOLAI, TERRE THAEMLITZ) or underground experimentalists like THROBBING GRISTLE or COLUMN ONE. In their 20th anniversary year, the critically acclaimed ensemble will release a series of diverse albums that will explore new grounds in the typical, adventurous zeitkratzer way – the first of these albums is dedicated to KRAFTWERK and their early, kraut-esque albums “Kraftwerk” and “Kraftwerk 2”. As KRAFTWERK never re-released these albums, ZEITKRATZER gave its best to cover the first tranche of the songs (second tranche to come…).
Recorded in Marseille / France in May 2016, the six tracks reveal a bucolic and even psychedelic aspect of the ensemble that’s mostly known (or feared) for its interpretatory and aesthetic acerbity. And yet there’s no doubt that “Songs From The Albums „Kraftwerk“ And „Kraftwerk 2“ turned out a true ZEITKRATZER recording in the best and full meaning!